Bosch partners in $100-million Web3 development foundation

Global technology firm Bosch partners in the launch of a new foundation, committing $100 million to a Web3, AI and IoT grant program.

$100 million is being earmarked for a grant program funding the development of Web3, artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized technologies in a partnership between Bosch and Fetch.ai.

The two companies are collaborating to create the Fetch.ai Foundation, which will aim to fuel industrial adoption of innovative software, AI and Web3 technologies. The initiative will fund research and develop decentralized technologies for real-world use cases.

The program will provide $100 million in grants to fund the long-term development of Web3-based solutions and services for the mobility, industrial technology and consumer industries. An announcement shared with Cointelegraph indicates that the grant program will invest in select companies and partners over a three-year period.

Fetch.ai is a Cambridge-based artificial intelligence firm developing a decentralized machine learning network that has worked alongside the global engineering and technology company Bosch. The latter provides a host of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and notes that a strategic objective is to facilitate the development of AI-powered products and appliances. It is also exploring Web3 technologies as part of this ongoing endeavor.

The Fetch.ai Foundation board will feature members from both Bosch and Fetch.ai and will look to fund specific businesses and companies in the industrial AI space. Fetch.ai Foundation chairperson Peter Busch said Bosch is interested in harnessing developing technologies:

“Bosch as one of the worldwide leaders in industrial engineering and mobility solutions sees the huge need for smarter technologies and governance to cope with the challenges coming with ever more connected ecosystems regarding safety/security, privacy, and data ownership.”

Busch said that the combination of Web3, AI and open-source technologies with classic engineering is a key driver of the foundation’s mission through its grant program. Bosch and Fetch.ai first partnered up in February 2021 to launch a multi-purpose blockchain network focused on Web3 capabilities incorporating AI and IoT.